The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Steelers beat Browns in clean rematch
After a slow start Sunday, quarterback Devlin "Duck" Hodges and the Pittsburgh Steelers came on to beat the visiting Cleveland Browns 20-13.
Hodges, an undrafted thirdstringer who was given the start over Mason Rudolph, was 14of-21 passing for 212 yards, an interception and a touchdown to James Washington (four catches, 111 yards) as Pittsburgh (7-5) erased a 10-0 deficit. Benny Snell added a touchdown run.
The Steelers played without top receiver Juju Smith-Schuster and No. 1 running back James Conner, both out with injuries.
Cleveland's Baker Mayfield passed for 196 yards, with a touchdown to Kareem Hunt and an interception. He was sacked five times.
The Browns (5-7), who had won three straight, got a scare with seven seconds left in the second quarter when Mayfield left after getting his right hand tangled in the facemask of Steelers linebacker Bud Dupree on a follow-through, but he was able to return.
This was a rematch 17 days after the rivals engaged in a last-minute melee that included Cleveland's Myles Garrett drawing an indefinite suspension for hitting Pittsburgh's Mason Rudolph in the head with a helmet, but there was no apparent carryover.
On the opening drive, Cleveland took a 3-0 lead on Austin Seibert's 31-yard field goal.
The Browns increased that to 10-0 as Mayfield went 4 for 4 on a 70-yard drive that ended with Hunt coming out of the backfield for a 15-yard touchdown, his first of the year after an earlier suspension. He caught the ball around the 13 and broke two tackles.
At that point, Cleveland had outgained Pittsburgh 147 yards to nine yards.
Hodges and the Steelers offense seemed to gain confidence, beginning with a 10-play, 62-yard push to set up Chris Boswell's 39-yard field goal to make it 10-3.
Pittsburgh tied it with one minute before halftime, driving 69 yards on five plays, with Hodges hitting Washington for a 30-yard touchdown.
Snell powered in from 1 yard on the opening possession of the second half for his first career touchdown and a 17-10 Pittsburgh lead.
Ravens 20, 49ers 17: Justin Tucker drilled a 49-yard field goal on the final play of the game, giving the Baltimore Ravens a home victory over the San Francisco 49ers in a lateseason battle of NFL titans.
The win was the eighth in a row for the Ravens (10-2), leaders of the AFC Central.
San Francisco (10-2) lost for the second time in its last four games after an 8-0 start.
Tucker's successful kick was his second of the day and his 38th straight in the fourth quarter of games in his career.
The Ravens' final drive covered 34 yards in 12 plays, killing the final 6:28, and began after the 49ers failed on a fourthand-1 at the Baltimore 35 when Jimmy Garoppolo had a pass deflected at the line of scrimmage.
Titans 31, Colts 17: Tye Smith returned a blocked field goal 63 yards to snap a fourth quarter tie, and Ryan Tannehill added his second touchdown pass two minutes later, as the visiting Tennessee Titans rallied for a win over Indianapolis
Tennessee (7-5) won for the fifth time in six games, avenging a September home loss to the Colts (6-6), and moved within a half-game of Houston for first place in the AFC South. The Texans host New England on Sunday night.
With the game tied at 17, Adam Vinatieri tried a 46-yard field goal to put Indianapolis ahead. But Dane Cruickshank surged through the right side to snuff the kick, and Smith sprinted untouched to the end zone with 5:02 left. It was the second field-goal attempt blocked by Tennessee in the game.
Logan Ryan intercepted Jacoby Brissett on the Colts' second play after Smith's return. Three plays later, Tannehill hit Kalif Raymond off play-action for a 40-yard scoring strike with 3:02 remaining, sealing Indianapolis' fourth loss in five games.
Tannehill went 17 of 22 for 182 yards and two touchdowns, playing to a quarterback rating of 131.3. The Titans are 5-1 since he supplanted Marcus Mariota as the starter after a Week 6 shutout loss in Denver.
Brissett completed 25 of 40 passes for 319 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. His score came on the game's first possession, as he found tight end Jack Doyle for a 21-yard connection with just 3:57 elapsed.
Packers 31, Giants 13: The Green Bay Packers rebounded from an awful loss to the San Francisco 49ers and handed the New York Giants their eighth consecutive loss in East Rutherford, N.J.
The reason why the Packers dashed through the snow was easy to identify. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, coming off one of the worst games of his career, threw four touchdown passes. Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones, on the other hand, tossed three interceptions.
Green Bay improved to 9-3 and took a half-game lead in the NFC North over Minnesota, which plays at Seattle on Monday night.
Bengals 22, Jets 6: The Cincinnati Bengals earned their first win of the season when Andy Dalton returned to the starting lineup and threw for 243 yards and one touchdown in a victory over the visiting New York Jets.
The win ended the longest season-opening losing streak in franchise history for the Bengals (1-11) and ensured they would not join the 2008 Detroit Lions and 2017 Cleveland Browns as the only teams to go winless over a 16-game season.
It was also the first win for first-year head coach Zac Taylor, who received a Gatorade bath in the final minute.
The Jets (4-8) not only had a three-game winning streak snapped but also made the wrong kind of history Sunday, when they became the first NFL team to lose twice to teams that were 0-7 or worse entering the game. The Miami Dolphins were 0-7 before beating New York 26-18 on Nov. 3.
Dalton finished 22 of 37 for 243 yards and a touchdown. Auden Tate had four catches for a team-high 66 yards.
Buccaneers 28, Jaguars 11:
Linebacker Devin White intercepted a pass to set up a score and then returned a fumble for a touchdown, as the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers built a 25-point halftime lead and held off the Gardner Minshew-led Jacksonville Jaguar.
Rookie quarterback Minshew replaced Nick Foles at the start of the second half, with Jacksonville down 25-0. Foles was 7 of 14 for 93 yards with one interception and two lost fumbles, with the three turnovers leading to 22 Buccaneers points.